The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

Wat Mettadhamma Pothiyan had the most astonishing four story tall wood carving I have ever seen in my life.  Truly mesmerizing!

My wife and her brother and I drove far out into the Thai countryside west of Bangkok to visit a special event at a very special Chinese-style temple, Wat Mettadhamma Pothiyan.

It was a hectic three hour drive from my Bangkok home.

Wat Mettadhamma Pothiyan is not an old wat, although many of its architectural features are very reminiscent of ancient  Chinese temples.

There were some very beautiful structures on the grounds, and many construction sites of new buildings.

A lot of money is being donated by the current followers for this wat, and its charismatic head monk.  This temple is going to be fantastic when it is complete.   But we did not come here for the architecture and grandeur of the temple structures . . . it was what was going on inside that drew us there.

Of course we weren't there to just admire the architecture, although we did plenty of that, we were there with a lot of other people to take part in a special event inside one of the temple buildings.

We were there for an auction.  It was a fund-raising event for the wat.  All of these magnificent statues, altars, carvings, and decorations are expensive.  Not to mention the upkeep and support of all the monks who make this wat their home.

My wife's family and I bid on this altar piece . . . and won.  It is made of 100 baht bills.  I was happy to donate.

After we won our bid, I felt free to roam around in this temple and take photographs at will. The altar here is astonishing.

A three Buddha altar.  All the items, fruit baskets and such, in front of the Buddhas were auctioned off that day.

I really enjoyed scrambling around the altar trying to get the best angles for the 'perfect' photo.

WOW!  Just WOW!

I took many, many photographs of this altar, way too many to post here.

We left the crowded "auction hall" and waked 50m to another very large, covered area that was full of all sorts of effigies and votive items.

All along the new building one could find amazing craftsmanship.  This Kuan Yin door was beautiful.

An outside covered area was full of remarkable wood carvings.

Yes, there were also images from the Hindu tradition, like this Gnesh.

Remarkable craftsmanship and artistry everywhere.  I like these strange rock scenes.

A row of giant carved teakwood statues of various deities . . .  one of which is my favorite.

I am a bit of a devotee of the ancient Chinese Buddhist monk, Ji Gong (on the right).  "He purportedly possessed supernatural powers through Buddhist practice, which he used to help the poor and stand up to injustice."  He held an idiosyncratic understanding of Buddhism.  To me he represents the "none of the above" method of reaching enlightenment.

A sweet tiger deity.

I like that Chinese Buddhist temples have whimsical statuary.

But the main attraction at this temple was the four story high giant many-armed diety, Guan Yin Bodhisattva, in its own special hall.

Indescribable.

We spent quite a long time in this very special temple hall . . . just walking around and around the giant Guan Yin Bodhisattva (Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara - or Thousand-Armed Guanyin), staring up, mouths wide open is astonishment.

We left the Guan Yin hall very inspired. On the way back to our car we passed a big workshop where other huge wood carvings were being made.  A fantastic wat very and worth the three hour drive from Bangkok.  I know I will be back.